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The tide of dementia is swelling and no country will be spared. There are no effective drugs, no cure — and, in Canada, no national strategy for a major public health issue that will only keep growing.

This is not just a problem for old people. It is everyone’s problem.

There is no question: if dementia doesn’t already affect you, it will some day. You could become a patient or a caregiver, or a taxpayer increasingly burdened by dementia’s spiralling costs. It is a growing public health crisis that will overwhelm countries like Canada if not prepared.

But there is still time. Dementia is finally becoming a global health priority and the world’s first G8 dementia summit was held in 2013. Canada does not have a national dementia strategy. But it has committed to developing one and is investing millions in a major research network dedicated to neurodegenerative diseases, including dementia.

“I can think of no other disease that has such a profound effect on loss of function, loss of independence, and the need for care,” Dr. Margaret Chan, director general of the World Health Organization said in March 2015. “I can think of no other disease so deeply dreaded by anyone who wants to age gracefully and with dignity. I can think of no other disease that places such a heavy burden on families, communities, and societies. I can think of no other disease where innovation, including breakthrough discoveries to develop a cure, is so badly needed.”

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In the coming days, the Toronto Star will introduce you to people around the world who are working towards solutions — whether that means effective drugs, reshaping countries to better accommodate the disease, or figuring out what you can do now to reduce your own risk.

Dementia is here and the problem is growing. Are we ready?

Dementia rates are rising because of how rapidly Canada’s population is aging — but we will all feel the economic and social burden of the disease.

$33 billion: The annual cost of dementia in Canada

$293 billion: The projected cost of dementia in 2040

1 in 5 Canadians aged 45 and older provide some form of care to seniors living with long-term health problems. If you are in your 30s, by the time you are 10 years from retirement, your cohort is even more likely to become part of this “sandwich” generation: balancing full-time work, child care, and caring for aging parents.

$1.3 billion: In lost productivity in 2012. That year, 1.6 million caregivers took leave from work; nearly 600,000 reduced their work hours; 160,000 turned down paid employment; and 390,000 quit their jobs to provide care.

1.2 billion: The unpaid hours family caregivers are projected to spend looking after someone with cognitive impairment in 2040 — 150 million work days.

Because so much falls on families, dementia’s toll on health ripples outward.

2008-09: 16 per cent of people who care for sick loved ones at home reported feeling stress, anger or depression.

2013-14: That number rose to 33 per cent.

The cost of dementia would rank as the world’s 18th-largest economy

17. Netherlands ($869,508 million)

18. Dementia ($818,000 million)

19. Turkey ($799,535 million)

20. Saudi Arabia ($746,249 million)

21. Switzerland ($685,434 million)

It’s not just happening in rich countries. Poorer nations are experiencing a faster rise in dementia rates.

The good news is you can do something about dementia. Researchers have discovered that lifestyle choices affect our risk.

1 in 3: The number of Alzheimer’s disease cases attributable to risk factors that can be altered, like smoking and physical inactivity.

Researchers believe that abnormal changes in the brain may begin up to 25 years before memory-related Alzheimer’s symptoms start to appear. That means health choices you make in middle age have a huge impact.

BMI: For each unit increase of body mass index in a 50-year-old, one study predicts onset of dementia symptoms 6.7 months earlier.

In another study, participants who engaged in physical activities at least twice a week in their leisure time in mid-life had half the dementia risk of sedentary people.

There are no drugs that cure Alzheimer’s.

1,120: number of Alzheimer’s drugs investigated between 1995 and 2014. Only 4 have made it to market, and all treat symptoms, not the disease itself.

0.5%: that translates into a success rate of less than 1% of all drugs investigated for Alzheimer’s, versus 4.1% for the pharmaceutical industry as a whole.

But there is preliminary — and controversial — European research that suggests controlling risk factors has begun to affect how many people are getting dementia.

22%: reduction in how many people 65+ were living with dementia in 2011 than predicted in 1990 in one U.K. study, meaning overall numbers are estimated to be stabilizing rather than rising.

43%: reduction in how many men 65+ were living with dementia in 1996 compared to 1987 in Zaragoza, Spain, in another study.

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